Plastics recycling charity RECOUP is celebrating its 30th birthday this year.
When launched in 1990, it was only supposed to exist for three years, and had the primary aim of kick-starting the recycling of PET bottles in the UK.
It was initally called Operation RECOUP and brought together major UK bottle blowers, machinery and material producers.
RECOUP now boasts 141 members including waste management companies, reprocessors, brands and retailers.
Its chief executive Stuart Foster said: “No one could have predicted the pressure and attention placed on plastics in recent years, fuelled by the ‘Blue Planet’ effect and certainly when RECOUP was launched, this was not forecasted to be part of our future working space.
“Politicians, consumers, media and businesses are all demanding change and RECOUP is central to delivering that through increased recycling and more efficient use of plastic resources.
“Clearly, it cannot be right to allows plastics to leak into the environment, but neither is it acceptable to lose the opportunity to use plastic where it is the most appropriate and cost-effective material for so many applications.
“We look forward to working with the support of our members to encourage and help foster the right conditions to allow for a viable and resilient plastics recycling system across the UK.”
RECOUP was supposed to be celebrating its anniversary at this year’s conference, but this has now been postponed until 2021.
Instead, the plastic recycling charity will be hosting a series of webinars in September and October. More information about these can be found at www.recoup.org
